Hi, everyone -
In my mind, I've started to write this about a dozen times. Each time, I've ended up making it something between a novel and "War and Peace". I think I'll just start with the basics, and break the rest of it up into smaller posts as I go along.
First off, I want to give a big THANK YOU to all who have posted here up to this point. My wife and I have been reading this forum for a little while now, and just from reading it, we're already experiencing quite a bit of healing. It's really, really helpful to know there are others out there that have gone through similar things. Plus, some of you have shared struggles that I have, but I had never associated them directly with my "Old GC" time. Thanks for helping me make that connection, where appropriate; it helps with the healing and fixing.
OK, here's a little about me. I started with GC in 1984, at the Silver Spring MD church. Yeah, smack dab in the middle of "64 in '84". (If there's one thing bad this forum has done to me, it's made that stupid song stick in my head all over again.
) I stayed until 1993, but I didn't actually leave as an individual. Valley Brook itself left Great Commission, so those of us who "stayed" actually "left" all together.
As I have time over the next few months, I'll be sharing some of my observations about the Silver Spring church, how I saw it develop and change over the years, and how it affected me, both positively and, sadly, quite negatively.
I want to make something really clear. I'm sure this will spur some debate, if past threads are any indication.
When I talk about my GC experiences here, I'm talking about the Silver Spring days. I actually attended another GC church more recently, in a galaxy far, far away. I can honestly say, that church is a *good* one. I didn't see any evidence of the "bad old ways". The leaders I talked to were well aware of the "weakness paper", and understood to some degree where I had come from. Ultimately, we left because they are primarily a campus-focused church. They put a good effort into trying to develop a full-fledged "community" ministry, but it never quite worked out for us, or for some other families we know who have also left on good terms.
OK, here comes that novel again, so I'll stop for now. Thanks again for all you did, do, and will do.
